Then again, when Lan Jin thought about it more, she realized it wasn't really a big deal. Out of the four of them, three had incredible strength. Her daughter inherited that little "gift" from her, so it wasn't strange at all, was it?
Yeah.
It really wasn't.
…
Maybe worried her mother would scold her, Qiao Qiao, who'd been about to throw herself into Lan Jin's arms, suddenly spotted Zhou Zhiye nearby.
And that was Zhou Zhiye, her absolute favorite! Forget about getting hit, she had to run to him first. So halfway to her mother, Qiao Qiao swerved and barreled straight into Zhou Zhiye's embrace.
Zhou Zhiye had come over to help treat the wounded, but he hadn't missed a single second of the little girl's earlier display. He'd expected her to rush to him, but her strength…
Once he had the child in his arms, his gaze shifted straight to Captain Zhang.
…
Captain Zhang was dumbfounded. They'd been through thick and thin together, spent so much time side by side, yet he hadn't had the slightest clue about the child's strength. He walked up to Lan Jin, ready to offer a few words of comfort, but instead he said, "You've hidden this well."
"What do you mean hidden? You just didn't notice. My strength's always been this way. My daughter takes after me. Isn't it normal for her to be strong?"
Shameless. Absolutely shameless. How could anyone lie so boldly and with such confidence?
"Sure, normal," Captain Zhang muttered, then quickly moved on. "Can we get back to the rescue work now? You people with strength to spare should have some time, right?"
"Yes."
Lan Jin gave him a look, speechless. What was she supposed to say, no?
Most of the smaller tasks didn't need her anyway. The real problem was that the quake had toppled larger things like vehicles. They needed those lifted so they could grab essential supplies.
So she, Lao Gao, and Huang Jinghe joined in.
Soon the others realized just how terrifying their strength really was. At first, the three worked together to lift a vehicle. Later, they decided two were enough.
Even that was overkill. Small cars? One person could carry them alone. Larger ones? They could manage with a bit of effort. But worried it would scare people too much, they stuck to two-person lifts.
Still, in the eyes of the base survivors, it was frightening.
By then, the rescue work wasn't even finished, yet Lan Jin and her group already stood like towering figures in everyone's hearts.
But she didn't care about that. Once her part was done, she went straight to peel her daughter off Zhou Zhiye.
"Lan Qiaoqiao," she said helplessly, "don't cling to Uncle Zhou like that. He's busy with work, don't hold him up."
Qiao Qiao froze, then looked up at Zhou Zhiye with a small, lost voice. "Uncle Zhou, Qiao Qiao bad? Make you late?"
Actually, no. Everyone at the base had basic medical training, and most of the fighters were unhurt enough to join the rescue. Things were busy, but manageable. A few team leaders were even just standing around giving orders, though none of them were holding a child while doing it.
Still, he couldn't say that. If he did, Qiao Qiao would never leave him, and he'd end up breaking her little heart.
So Zhou Zhiye smiled gently. "Your mama's here. Stay with her, alright? I've got work to do. Lots of injured people to help."
Hearing that, Qiao Qiao nodded hard. She slid down from his arms and said quickly, "Uncle Zhou go fast. Qiao Qiao good girl, won't stop you."
With one last lingering glance, she trotted back to Lan Jin's arms.
Honestly, neither of them could understand why the child liked him so much. Cradling her again, Lan Jin asked, "Qiao Qiao, why do you like Uncle Zhou so much?"
Qiao Qiao tilted her head, thought for a moment, and said, "Don't know. Just like."
Ling Jiang teased, "Why don't you two just get together? Then Qiao Qiao can call him Dad and hold him every day."
But before the joke could even sink in, both mother and daughter shot back at the same time.
"No!"
They looked at each other.
Lan Jin's "no" was because it was the apocalypse. She had no plans to find someone new. Nobody knew if tomorrow would even come, so why bother?
But Qiao Qiao's refusal was the odd part.
Curious, Lan Jin asked, "Why not? Don't you like Uncle Zhou?"
The little girl shook her head firmly. "Mama's mine. If she with Uncle Zhou, then she won't be mine anymore. I like Uncle Zhou a lot, but only when he belongs to someone else. If he's ours, then I don't like him as much."
Lan Jin was speechless. Her daughter's logic… she couldn't even comment.
Even Ling Jiang, hearing that explanation, was stunned. It was just as absurd as Lan Jin's earlier excuse about genetics. But it was only a joke. Nobody was serious. Lan Jin didn't want marriage, Ling Jiang didn't either, so the idea went no further.
…
The adults let it go, but the child didn't.
Naïve Qiao Qiao truly thought Zhou Zhiye wanted to steal her mama. She still liked him, but not with the same starry-eyed warmth as before. Her clinginess faded, which left both him and Lan Jin relieved.
The treatment of the injured wrapped up quickly. By the next day, the supply check was also complete. Though they'd lost a lot in the quake, the remaining resources were enough to reach the new base.
That alone was good enough.
===
If you confused what about what Qiao Qiao says, here is the original version: The little girl shook her head firmly. "Mama is mine. If she's going to be with Uncle Zhou, then she won't be mine anymore. I really like Uncle Zhou, but that's because he belongs to someone else. If he were part of my own family, I wouldn't like him as much."